At first I thought she was simply Sally's 15 y/o cig-smoking friend over for the holidays, but then I thought maybe she was one of Henry's other kids from somewhere (or even a niece) the way he looked at her fondly when she playing the violin, but after Betty's taunting bedroom speech to him to go rape her, I realized she must not be part of the family.(???)

Betty tells Sandy in the kitchen that Sally was crushed when Sandy was supposed to be "going away", then, Sally in a later scene says she basically hates her cuz she's "so stuck-up".(???)

Sally also implies Sandy was sort of forced to be at the house: "she was sick of being here" & "will look upon this time fondly". (???)

Then the 15 y/o Sandy runs away to the ghettos of NYC and there's no alarm by the adults, just Betty's mere disappointment there was no official goodbye. (???)

Then Sally just adds to the confusion by saying "This is a great vacation". It was said in a sarcastic tone, so I assume they really aren't on a vacation in a similiar upstate NY mansion somewhere, and that Sally just was musing over the lost opportunity for a real vacation in a warmer/more-fun location, but it's too ambiguous of a scene all-around for my brain in a Mad Men episode.

quote:Last night a tipster wrote in and told us, "I've been thinking about the late 1967 'Groovy Murders'... an 18-year-old runaway girl from Greenwich named Linda [Fitzpatrick] and her boyfriend... this incident (which scared the crap out of me in Omaha) is clearly the basis of Betty Draper's concern for Sandy. In 1967 it got set up as the diametric opposition to the Summer of Love, much as Altamont got set up in 1969 opposite Woodstock as the dark underbelly of all that durn hippie love."

The "Groovy Murders" were called that because Linda's boyfriend, James Hutchinson, went by the name "Groovy"—he was an East Village hippie, and Linda a newly converted flower child from Greenwich, CT. The two—immersed in the drug scene—were found bludgeoned to death on October 8th, 1967 at 169 Avenue B (a few blocks from St. Mark's) by two drifters, who came forward two years later but never revealed their motives.

From the 1967 Village Voice article:

One fellow transient named Pepsi told the NY Times that following a road trip in early October, Linda "put up with me and my buddy in this pad on Avenue B. She was supposed to keep it clean, but all she ever did all day was sit around. She had this real weird imagination, but she was like talking in smaller and smaller circles. She was supposed to be this great artist, but it wasn't much good.

Her daughter—who the NY Times referred to as "a young, talented girl overly impatient to taste the joys of life"—had been living there for 10 weeks, but prior to that had been visiting in the summer.

I agree it was a confusing set-up. At first I believed as you did that she was Henry's neice or some other cousin, but after a second viewing I think she is a school friend or neighborhood girl that just lost her mother and is somewhat adrift. That is the only explanation as to Sally's laissez fare attitude about her departure and her pejorative remarks about her "stuck-up" attitude. Very funny observation from Sally who is road testing a very jaded, adult countenance.

At first I thought she was simply Sally's 15 y/o cig-smoking friend over for the holidays, but then I thought maybe she was one of Henry's other kids from somewhere (or even a niece) the way he looked at her fondly when she playing the violin, but after Betty's taunting bedroom speech to him to go rape her, I realized she must not be part of the family.(???)

Betty tells Sandy in the kitchen that Sally was crushed when Sandy was supposed to be "going away", then, Sally in a later scene says she basically hates her cuz she's "so stuck-up".(???)

Sally also implies Sandy was sort of forced to be at the house: "she was sick of being here" & "will look upon this time fondly". (???)

Then the 15 y/o Sandy runs away to the ghettos of NYC and there's no alarm by the adults, just Betty's mere disappointment there was no official goodbye. (???)

Then Sally just adds to the confusion by saying "This is a great vacation". It was said in a sarcastic tone, so I assume they really aren't on a vacation in a similiar upstate NY mansion somewhere, and that Sally just was musing over the lost opportunity for a real vacation in a warmer/more-fun location, but it's too ambiguous of a scene all-around for my brain in a Mad Men episode.

Someone help.

Sorry, I can't help. This IMHO is the first jump the shark type plot I have seen Mad Men and I have been an ongoing fan. Betty's dialogue with Henry was particularly WTF? I love the show overall but this was just bad writing. One thing I love about Mad Men is the lack of outlandish shock and awe; this scene was a departure from what has made the show successful from my perspective.

quote:This IMHO is the first jump the shark type plot I have seen Mad Men and I have been an ongoing fan. Betty's dialogue with Henry was particularly WTF?

Not really. Betty has always been a shrew, and she just lashed out at Henry because that's her tendency.. to throw a fit when she doesn't like something or is intimidated. This one was less passive-aggressive than others - when she called Glen's mother on him after pretending to be on his side, or when she set up Sarah Beth with Arthur by telling him to meet them for lunch then didn't show up .. hoping they'd sleep together.

Like BV said she's also given Glen her hair, slapped a woman in a grocery store, etc. Betty is unbalanced; this is par for the course for her.

Yeah I agree that Mad Men was built-upon WTF-mysterious moments. Hell, the 1st episode reveals the horn-dog Draper goes home to his wife & kids. Then there's the 1st time on the train we ever hear the name Dick Whitman. Like Betty shooting the pigeons, Mad Men has had a way of making you think you know a character, and then turning the tables on you.

But with the Sandy character, the tables start off turned, and it doesn't invite mystery, just offers scrambled confusion.